=== The National Library of Ireland, Dublin
=== The Rock of Cashel, Tipperary
=== I Wonder if the Grass is Just as Green by Jeremiah J. Shea
=== Paddy O'Sullivan - Tactician by Michael Mulcahy
=== YouTube Videos of Irish Interest
=== Gaelic Phrases of the Month
=== Monthly Free Competition Result

Hi again from Ireland where a battle is about to commence between the Government and a huge number of Irish citizens who are refusing to submit to the newly imposed property tax. On the one hand the property tax was a condition of the recent loans provided to the Irish State by the EU/IMF/ECB when the country teetered on the verge of financial collapse.

On the other hand the vast majority of Irish home-owners have already paid property tax in the form of 'stamp duty' running to tens of thousands of euro. It is not hard to see why this could become the single biggest issue in Ireland this year.

This month we feature articles about the Rock of Cashel and the National Library of Ireland. A fine story from Michael Mulcahy also graces these pages.

We welcome your input so please do send in your article or story!

Until next month,

Michael

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The Irish tax system is under the microscope after US Senator Carl Levin called the country a 'tax haven' and this despite the fact that the US government does not officially class Ireland as one.

The Senator is clearly unhappy with the fact that Apple Inc, the computer technology company, is reported to only pay as little as 2% tax on its profits by registering its business in Ireland. By doing this the profits can be funnelled through Ireland and then on to an actual tax haven country, thus avoiding a big tax bill in the US.

It is clearly not unreasonable for the US Senate to be unhappy with this situation. Huge companies such as Google and Apple have for many years now avoided paying large amounts of tax in their homeland by the use of these schemes.

The Irish government are furious and have repeatedly denied that any special deal was provided for Apple. The standard rate of corporation tax in Ireland remains at 12.5%. Most of the foreign multinational companies based in Ireland are American and employ about 150,000 people in the country. The IDA (Industrial Development Authority) of Ireland intends to write to Senator Levin about his comments.

Barry O'Leary of the IDA:Irish officials will definitely be clarifying and making sure he (Senator Levin) is up-to-date on exactly what happens in Ireland ......the description he used (tax haven), I dont think anybody else would.

His annoyance with the US Senator was echoed by Government Minister Pat Rabbitte:If there were monies channelled through Ireland (by US multi-nationals) then that is a function of what is allowed by the American tax system.

It has been suggested that the US authorities could easily close off this tax arrangement by changing their own tax law. Putting the ball back in the US Senator's court is unlikely to reduce the pressure that the Irish Government is under and not just from the US. Fellow EU countries, especially France and Germany, are also unhappy with Ireland's 12.5% tax rate for corporations and have mad several attempts over the last few years to have the rate upped.

The Fine Gael and Labour Coalition Government are committed to implementing legislation on foot of the X-Case. This 1992 Irish Supreme Court case confirmed that a woman was entitled to an abortion in Ireland if her health was threatened. This included the risk to her health of suicide and it is this provision that is causing so much trouble for the Government.

Fine Gael are perhaps the most conservative of the larger political parties in Ireland with many of their T.D.'s (members of the Irish Parliament) being from rural districts. Some of their Dublin T.D's are now also very concerned about the new legislation and it is clear that they will vote against the proposals.

The proposed legislation does not actually change the law of the country relating to abortion. Rather, it clarifies and formalizes the procedures that should be implemented when the medical profession encounter such difficult scenarios.

The impetus for the legislation was brought about by the tragic death of Savita Halapanavar who was denied an abortion and died from complications relating to a miscarriage she had while in the care of the Irish health-care system. It is clear that her life could have been saved had the medical profession had clearer instructions on how to act. Currently Doctors are having to interpret the legal position on an individual case-by-case basis and at their own risk.

It is proposed that the abortion legislation will provide a procedure whereby a suicidal woman can be legally given an abortion. This circumstance may occur for example where a woman or teenager is raped and becomes pregnant. The rebel Fine Gael T.D's are concerned that this provision may be abused and lead to a situation of 'abortion on demand'.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has so far ruled out a 'free vote' on the issue, whereby Party members would not be obliged to vote for the legislation with the possibility of being expelled from the Party if they did not. Fianna Fail may allow their own members to have a free vote which would certainly cause problems for Fine Gael if they did not follow suit. The Labour Party, Sinn Fein and most Independents will vote in favour of the measures so it seems that the new legislation is very likely to be passed and become law.

The difficulty for Fine Gael is just how much damage it will inflict on itself over this, perhaps the most divisive of all social issues.

A hoard of treasure including medieval silver coins, some military items and a Bronze-Age axe and spear-head that were looted from Ireland have been recovered and returned to the National Museum of Ireland.

The use of metal detectors in Ireland requires a licence. It is suspected that several people searched for and found the historical treasures between 2009 and 2012 and removed them illegally. Some 899 items were removed from the County Tipperary area, a location that was already in the news this year for the discovery of a 17th Century Pot of Gold Found in the Foundations of an Irish Pub. Some of the newly recovered coins date to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The bronze spear-head dates to between the years 1400 and 900 B.C. - some three millenia ago!

Doctor Kelly is the keeper of antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland:The most striking part is probably the coin hoard. It includes 28 medieval coins that were all found together as well as 30 silver coins that are also medieval. There are coins dating from the reign of King John to Elizabeth I and from Georgian and Victorian times all of which suggests a range of finds were made.

The British Museum are believed to have reported internet messages about the illegal theft of the items to their Irish counterparts. With the assistance of the Norfolk Constabulary in the UK parts of the vast hoard were recovered and returned to Ireland.

Seamus Lynam is the Acting Director of the National Museum: The recovery underlines the continuing threat posed to the portable archaeological heritage of Ireland by metal detectorists. Many items similar to those recovered have been offered for sale in recent times over the internet and are the subject of on-going investigations. The recovery shows the determination of the National Museum, the Gardaí and other State bodies to protect the nation's heritage and demonstrates the ability to recover important heritage objects even when they have been illegally removed from the jurisdiction.

This episode highlights the difficulties faced by not just Irish but all National Museums in preserving their nations heritage. Without the assistance of the British Museum it is unlikely that the 899 items would ever have been returned to Ireland, where they can be studied and viewed by tens of thousands of people.

The Irish country village pub made famous by the film ' The Quiet Man' starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara has been sold to an English fan of the film.

The bar is located in Cong in County Mayo, deep in the heart of Connemara and is reported to have sold for close to the asking price of 300,000 euro (US$385,000). The bar is central to the famous fight scenes between Sean Thornton (John Wayne) and Squire 'Red' Will Danaher (Victor McLaghlen). The fight meandered its way through the local fields, into the town and back out into the streets again with the protagonists eventually succumbing to the drink they had take in the bar before falling home to be served their tea by Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara).

Sean Thornton: (loudly)Woman of the house! I brought the brother home to supper!

Mary-Kate: (gently)He's kindly welcome.

Will Danaher: (meekly)God bless all in this house.

Mary-Kate: (scolding)WIPE YOUR FEET!

The film revolves around Sean Thornton who has returned to his homeland from America. His arrival causes quite a stir among the locals. He courts and eventually marries Mary-Kate Danaher but their marriage gets off to a rocky start when Thornton refuses to extract a dowry from his wife's brother, entitled as she knew she was to it. Eventually a brawl erupts between Thornton and Danaher with a satisfactory outcome for all concerned.

The film has been criticized for parodying Irish country people and especially for its portrayal of stereo-typical Irish characters who seem to embody just about every cliche possible.

But it is precisely this characteristic that gives the film its charm and humour. Barry Fitzgerald as the local matchmaker is a constant source of amusement as he plots and schemes his way through the various village dramas.

Interest in the film has never abated. Guided tours of the Cong area are available to eager tourists who are shown the original locations where many of the movie scenes were shot. There is even a 'Quiet Man Cottage Museum' for those who really want to get into the experience.

At the time of John Ford's film in 1952 the pub building was actually used as a shop but was re-opened as a pub in 2008. Now it has been sold again to another 'outsider' - hopefully he will have less trouble in the village than Sean Thornton did!

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The National Library of Ireland is perhaps one of the more unusual tourist attractions in Ireland. It is located next door to the Irish parliament (Dail Eireann) and thus is in the very heart of Dublin city, adjacent to Trinity College and nearby St. Stephens Green.

The Library hosts an ongoing program of exhibitions which are free to view. The Library also hosts a wide variety of events including poetry and music recitals, public lectures, theatre, story-telling for children and much more.

The Library operate a free Genealogy Advisory Service that is an ideal starting point for those who are beginning some family history research. The National Photographic Archive is also attached to the Library. The personal notes and writings of famous authors such as James Joyce, William Butler Yeats and Seamus Heaney are available to view in the Library.

Of course the primary function of this institution is as a Library and it is thus a crucial resource for researchers. Access to the Library. Some of the more precious items can only be consulted in the Manuscripts Reading Room, or by appointment in the Prints and Drawings Department.

While the Library is perhaps not the first kind of place you might consider visiting in Dublin it is certainly worth viewing their schedule of events to see if anything piques your interest. And failing that the fine building is well worth a look in its own right. Guided tours of the Library are available but do check in advance before your arrival.

The Rock of Cashel is an ancient site that houses buildings dating back to the twelfth century. Buildings on the site include an ancient round tower, the Chapel of King Cormac Mac Carthaigh and the thirteenth century Cathedral. The entire site sits atop a huge plateau of limestone rock with fine views over the Tipperary landscape and the 'Golden Vale'. The site was the ancient seat of the Kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion in the twelfth century so has had huge cultural significance in Ireland since the 5th century when the Eóganachta dynasty founded their capital on and around the rock.

You will need your camera! Spectacular shots of the lush green countryside are the perfect backdrop to the grey stone walls of the Cathedral and the High Crosses of the graveyard.

An audio-visual show and regular exhibitions are available at the site while guided tours are also available. The Rock of Cashel is a very busy tourist attraction so crowds can be expected at just about any time of the year. If travelling to Cashel by car then there is parking nearby or further into Cashel town which is built at the foot of the Rock. There are plenty of cafes in Cashel which is nice for a stroll after viewing the historic landmark. The town is also home to the GPA Bolton Library which houses many original books found nowhere else in the world.

The nearby Cashel Folk Village has a huge array of historical memorabilia with three different exhibits: the Easter Rising 1916, The War of Independence and Civil War Museum and the Great Irish Famine Museum.

Cashel is well worth a visit and you could spend an entire day here leisurely taking in the famous cathedral high above the town in the morning, lunching in the town and then visiting the Folk Village before taking the short walk to the Bolton Library. .

I grew up in Listowel in the 40's whilst World Two
raged in Europe. Ireland stayed neutral and that
period was called The Emergency. It affected
everything from travel to certain foods being
rationed.

My father was the Garda Superintendent. He was a
quiet, shy, very reserved man, a listener, who
was beholden to no one because as a professional
policeman he felt he should not be. My mother on
the other hand was different from him in every
way. She was gregarious, loved chats and company.
They were both strong individuals. They both
came from diametrically opposed political back
grounds and yet they had married in the midst of
a very bitter Civil War. Their marriage and
family life was happy despite this paradox.

The only thing that caused a slight hiccup in
their relationship was the fact my father never
discussed Garda business with her. She gathered
all her information from other wives at the
market and the owner of the grocery shop who
was loquacious to the nth degree.

Crime normally involved the stealing of sheep
and turf, kidnapping of rams to increase sheep
production, the odd burglary, riding bicycles
without a red light and other crimes of that
order. Being Kerry there were on-going agrarian
problems some for decades that would occasionally
end up in murder. Being different to the other
crimes my mother would take a particular interest
in them. After doing the shopping she would
confidentially tell my father at lunch time:
'It was John Stack who killed the Poor Crature
Murphy'.
My father would digest this new lead
'Is that a fact?'
'It is Tom, the grocer told me only this morning'

Later my mother would find out that my father had
only just arrested Con Lehane for the murder and
he had pleaded guilty. My mother would be raging
he had not let her know. The shame, not to mention
the loss of prestige in the grocery shop and
market, would be unbearable.

Life and crime continued at this leisurely pace.
It was predictable. Then there came Paddy O'Sullivan.

Paddy O'Sullivan was a small man with dark hair
and piercing ice blue eyes who lived in the far
end of Listowel town, married with 6 children and
a patient hard working wife. He was unemployed
and drew the dole each week on a Wednesday. Life
was hard but Paddy was happy and content with his
lot. He did occasional work when he could get it
and he had the reputation of being an honest,
hard worker and was respected by local people.

Paddy did not have any trade skills that he could
sell on the building sites in England like his
contemporaries, who were busy building air fields
and fortifications for the Allies.

Then again maybe he was not interested in leaving
the town of Listowel where he was happy. However
he had one natural skill that served him well. He
was a superb fisherman and this was the main
support of his family. One salmon a week helped to
bring some level of comfort into their lives. It
was never over-done except for holiday weekends,
school books or other special occasions. It was
not Paddy's style to overdo things. He liked life
quiet and unobtrusive. It is a philosophy in
Kerry 'we won't preten a word' as they say in the
local vernacular.

His crime of course was that he was fishing
without a licence that cost two shillings and
six pence, 25 cents in today's money. Even that
small sum was not within his reach. Neither did
he feel he should pay for a licence either.

The fishing rights of the Feale River that ran
through the town of Listowel were held by Lord
Listowel, who was then Minister of Posts and
Telegraphs in Westminster, London. There was
some royal charter going back to ancient times
when lands were being dispensed to the landlords.
Since Independence the Lord had not really
exercised his rights.

The Garda were aware of Paddy's activities but
there was an undeclared 'gentleman's agreement'
between them. He did not poison the river with
chemicals that killed the fauna and young fish
as other poachers selfishly did. This effected
the number of fish running in the river the
following year. As long as he took the odd salmon
as family support, they ignored the fact he did
not have a licence. What is more, many of the
Garda themselves had fought in the War of
Independence and felt that maybe what Paddy was
doing was what they had fought for.

However life was to change.

Lord Listowel was informed by his agent of Paddy's heinous crime. He wrote to his counterpart in the Irish Government the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in Dublin.

'His river was being disgracefully poached and the police are doing absolutely nothing about it, what was the country coming to, actually this was a complete break down of law and order that would definitely encourage miscreants and mischief making leading to more dire consequences; actually one can only stand appalled'!

In due course the file arrived on my father's desk requesting information for a reply to this charge. In civil administration there is nothing more time-consuming or irritating than the ongoing file. It becomes a letter writing competition as additional information and further clarifications are requested. The recipient's objective is to kill the file quickly and once and for all. So the reply had to be water tight, factually accurate, and concise. There should be no loop hole. Kill the file in one blow. This required careful thought and planning. The Garda applied all their professional police skills honed on apprehending sheep stealers, kidnappers of rams and riding bicycles without a red light to this task. And they came up with what they considered a brilliant solution.

Paddy's mid morning routine was to fish the pool at the rear of the Stand on the Listowel Race Course. The pool was ideal for fishing and he was near his market for his produce. The two latest arrivals that had just completed their training in the Garda Depot in the Phoenix Park, Dublin (then the Garda Training Centre) would be sent to the Stand in the Race Course to stake out the fishing pool there. When Paddy caught a salmon, as undoubtedly he would, he would be arrested with the rod and salmon. He would be charged with poaching in that he was fishing without a licence. My father would arrange with the District Justice to fine Paddy two and sixpence and upbraid him in public court about his criminal activities. The Garda would pay the fine (a penny or one cent each) and Paddy would have the salmon. Justice would be done. Lord Listowel would be assured that law and order had been restored in North Kerry and the file would be terminated. What more could anyone ask for in life?

The two young Garda were dispatched to the Race Course and hid in the Stand. As the criminologists at the Barracks had predicted Paddy arrived and by mid morning had caught a salmon. The Garda rushed out calling on Paddy to put down the rod and salmon, he was under arrest. Paddy taken unawares panicked and ran across the weir into a small wood. By the time the Garda had taken of their shoes, socks and rolled up their trousers Paddy had vanished. He now knew the Garda had developed a new and very disturbing change of policy. Disaster for the Garda as he knew the river well and could continue fishing any where in its 65 miles length with impunity. The two young Garda could see their careers going up in smoke; the Barrack Sergeant was faced with telling my father that he had failed to implement a simple plan.

The even tenure of Barrack life was seriously disrupted by this arch criminal Paddy O'Sullivan (he had come up a grade) and worse my father now faced a long and trying correspondence with the Department. An air of doom and gloom descended on the Barracks. The Barrack party assembled to contemplate plan B.

The case would be taken on circumstantial evidence. The two Garda would swear they saw Paddy catch a salmon and evade arrest. Paddy would be arrested immediately, told he was being unreasonable and encouraged to plead guilty. The District Justice would fine him. The Sergeant started collecting the fine immediately from the rest of the Garda. Paddy would have the salmon. The new plan was presented to my father. He was not very happy about it. It was not as water tight as he would have liked but under the circumstances it was the best alternative.

Lunch in our house always followed the same ritual. We would come in from school before my father, who would arrive at the stroke of one o'clock. My mother would fuss around serving food, encouraging us to eat more vegetables and remonstrating with us for wearing our good shoes on a dry day. They were only to be worn going to Mass on Sunday. On this day my father arrived in a grumpy humour. My mother enquired about the crime scene and most unusually for my father he replied there was serious trouble brewing in the Barracks. He would have to go back early. For my mother it was like a lighting conductor. This was the stuff of scintillating grocery shop conversations. To show she was there for her husband in times of trouble and also to press the advantage in case more detailed information was available.
My mother announced with a great flourish:

'Tom I have a great surprise for you for supper this evening, I bought a salmon for half nothing from Paddy O'Sullivan'.

There was what is called in literature a pregnant pause.

It was the first marital row we had ever seen in our house. My father went berserk; my mother was annoyed with him and told him he was being completely unreasonable. She was trying to make ends meet in these difficult times and trying her best to put wholesome food on our table. In addition it was only common charity to help unfortunates when they were in trouble. We scattered back to school early.

Paddy knew he was in deep trouble with law and order enforcement. He knew something unusual had occurred to have prompted the Garda to make such a serious policy change and revoke the 'gentleman's agreement'. Even if he fished elsewhere it meant walking long distances and worse coming home with the salmon. The Garda would not let this pass. He applied his criminal mind to come up with a plan. Apparently he had sold salmon to my mother before unknown to my father (although now he began to suspect it) for the going black market rate of a £1 - that was 50% off the fish monger's price. My mother was by no means a mean woman but she was careful. Any savings she could make in the household budget were triumphs for her. My longest memory as a small boy was wearing blue trousers made from my father's old uniforms.

Paddy had earlier come to our door straight from the crime scene. His price was 10 schillings - he needed medicine urgently for his young daughter. Under the circumstances my mother offered him his going rate of a £1 or would lend him the money. He replied that they came from good stock. They were never beggars. A man had his pride. Paddy knew of course my mother would not be able to resist the bargain and the deal was done for 10 schillings.

Every law enforcement officer in North Kerry was dispatched on a man hunt. Plan B worked. Paddy, after some encouragement, pleaded guilty. The file was closed. The Garda arranged a job for Paddy with the County Council repairing roads. Perhaps they saw it as hard labour that such a criminal deserved. But also the salmon season was coming to an end and he did have to support a family. He also had to agree not to sell any more salmon to the Superintendent's wife.

Success and relief all around but we had a silent poached salmon supper that night. Some years later the arch criminal Paddy O'Sullivan invited my father and mother to the graduation of his daughter at University College, Cork. They both attended, my father in full uniform as it was a formal occasion. In the criminal sub-culture of the 1940s Listowel there was both honour and respect.